“Occupy the Prison-Industrial Complex” @ TruthOut

Posted on November 8, 2012

Chip Gibbons — November 8, 2012: “The United States has just 5 percent of the world’s population and over 20 percent of its prisoners. Since 1980 alone, America’s prison population has quadrupled. While this enormous prison population, as well as its deep racial biases, should be of concern to anyone, prisons should be of particular concern to the Occupy movement.

Since Occupy first exploded onto the scene, many within the political establishment and mainstream media have criticized occupiers alternatively for a lack of demands and for embracing too many seemingly unrelated demands. In spite of this confusion among those who are the self-appointed gatekeepers of political discourse, most people have understood Occupy as being a movement concerned with corporate influence over government, economic inequality and the economic crisis at large. It is precisely for those reasons that Occupy should be concerned about America’s penal population (which is not to say that many Occupy groups and occupiers are not)…………………….”

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